October 17, 2019
Auto News
Workers celebrate deal, show union power
Striking workers at a General Motors transmission plant in Toledo, Ohio had carried their signs for 31 days when they received news of a tentative contract deal.
Details of the four-year pact weren't released, but GM's latest offer to end the monthlong strike included wage increases and lump-sum payments, top-notch health insurance at little cost to workers, promises of new products for many U.S. factories and a path to full-time work for temporary workers.
Terry Dittes, the UAW's chief bargainer with GM, said the deal offers "major gains" for 49,000 union workers who have been walking picket lines since Sept. 16. They'll stay off work for at least a couple more days while union committees decide if they will bless the deal. Then workers will have to vote on it.
GM apparently was able to close three of four factories that it wanted to shutter to get rid of excess capacity in slow-selling cars and components. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant will get a new electric pickup truck and stay open, but factories in Lordstown, Ohio; Warren, Michigan; and near Baltimore are to be closed. The Lordstown area will get an electric vehicle battery factory, but it won't have nearly as many workers as the assembly plant that for years made compact GM cars.
GM and the union have been negotiating at a time of troubling uncertainty for the U.S. auto industry. Driven up by the longest economic expansion in American history, auto sales appear to have peaked and are now heading in the other direction. GM and other carmakers are also struggling to make the transition to electric and autonomous vehicles.
The deal shows that the union, with less than one-third of the 1.5 million members it had at its peak in 1979, still has a lot of clout with GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler.
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Fix Your Footing
Most people use their toe on the accelerator, which makes it harder to keep steady pressure and leads to excess gas consumption. Drive with your foot flat on the pedal, ease up on the accelerator a bit, and lower your top speed on the freeway.
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Your seat is positioned properly when you can hang your wrists over the top of the steering wheel. And remember not to grip the wheel as you would a tennis racket, with your thumbs wrapped around so that they connect in back with your fingers. Instead, leave your thumbs on top of the wheel. Otherwise, in a collision, the wheel can whip back around and break your thumbs.
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A bad driving habit is focusing on the road in front of you or at the bumper of the car ahead. Practice looking farther ahead. By the time you're in the turn, for instance, you should be looking ahead at your exit. It may feel like this will cause you to run off the road, but it won't. Your peripheral vision will keep you in line.
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Thanks for reading,
The Editor
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